Chapter 10

Imprinting

The next day the whole pack got out of school. Sam figured with the redhead still being around and two new members of the pack it would be better to have the whole pack around in case of an emergency. Collin and Brady still hadn't phased back yet, but Sam suspected it would take at least a couple days before that happened. So, he was keeping at least one other pack member in wolf form to stay with the pups and to keep an eye on things.

Kori had just phased back to human form after Seth switched places with her on pup-watch. She walked back to Emily's and entered the kitchen, finding Emily at the stove with Jared, Embry, Quil, and Paul sitting at the table. As Kori sat down between Paul and Quil Emily set a plate of chicken legs on the table.

Everyone shot out a hand to grab one, their hungry wolf sides making an appearance. Kori ate hers almost as fast as her pack brothers; the key word being almost.

As she finished her third one the familiar sound of a motorcycle entered her hearing range. She knew it was Jacob. He'd gone to Forks High earlier that morning to 'warn the Cullens about coming on our land'. Yeah, the whole pack knew that's a load of bull! He was really going to make sure Bella was still human. Apparently she went on some trip with her leech and Jacob was afraid he was going to change her like she wanted.

Kori stared at the tabletop, planning to ignore Jake when he came inside.

Quil glanced over his shoulder, out the window. "Dude, he brought Bella! Come on!"

The four boys hurried toward the door. Paul paused as he stood up.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked, his chicken still in his hand.

"I thought you didn't like Bella." Kori pointed out, tilting her head.

"I don't, but I like making fun of Baby Alpha." he answered with a smirk.

Kori smirked back and shook her head. "I'm good. Go have your fun." she joked.

Paul followed the others, leaving Kori alone in the kitchen with Emily.

Kori thought for a moment, remembering something she thought the evening before, while on patrol with Jared.

Jared had been thinking about Kim, like usual. Now, Kori didn't mind having to listen to that kind of stuff, unlike Paul, as long as the imprinter's thoughts stayed relatively PG. Jared had actually been thinking about when he imprinted on Kim. Kori heard all his thoughts, felt all his emotions, and saw everything through Jared's eyes.

It felt oddly familiar. And it made her remember other things she'd experienced in her pack brothers' minds. It made her think of…Seth.

Kori glanced at Emily's back, wondering if she could talk to her. After all, Emily was the first imprint. If Kori could ask anyone, Emily would be her best option…right?

"Um…hey Emily?" Kori called hesitantly.

Emily quickly glanced over her shoulder as she stirred the stew she was making. "Yeah?"

"Can…Can I ask you a question?" Kori asked hesitantly.

"Sure. What about?"

"Imprinting."

Emily looked over her shoulder again, her face showing she was a little surprised.

"Sure. What do you want to know?" she asked as she turned down the burner and moved to start kneading the dough she made for rolls.

"Um…What did it feel like to you? Like, when Sam imprinted on you, at that moment, what did you feel?" Kori asked, playing with her hands nervously.

Emily looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully as she continued kneading the dough. "Well…I've never been asked that before. Um…That moment when Sam looked into my eyes…I felt drawn to him. I couldn't look away no matter what. And whenever he wasn't around, it kind of felt like…a part of me was missing, even though I fought the imprint as hard as I could. I could still feel it though, even though I didn't want to." Emily looked over her shoulder again at Kori. "Did that answer your question?"

Kori thoughtfully nodded her head, looking off into space. That sounded a little like what she felt with Seth that day they first saw each other during their training bout. Except the feelings the other wolves experienced were closer to what she felt.

"Can I ask another question?" Kori asked quietly, looking down at the table as she felt her face heat up.

"Of course." Emily answered immediately, "Ask as many questions as you want."

Kori bit her lip for a moment. "Would the imprint bond, like, feel different if you already knew the person? Like, say a wolf imprinted on someone they already cared deeply about, someone they were close to. Would that affect how the bond felt?"

Emily paused in her kneading, looking ahead at the wall. She turned slightly, looking into space thoughtfully. "I think I get what your saying. I'm not sure, honestly. I mean, I knew Sam before he imprinted, because of Leah. And Jared knew Kim because they had a few classes together. But I've never heard of a wolf imprinting on someone they were close to." Emily's gaze moved up to Kori's face. "Why do you ask? Do you think you imprinted?" she asked the second question eagerly.

Kori looked back at the table and shrugged. "Just curious. What with everyone talking about imprinting all the time, and being inside the guys' heads, I just wondered."

Emily nodded before turning back to her bread dough.

Kori's head whipped around when Leah suddenly stormed through the kitchen and out the back door. Kori and Emily glanced at each other before Kori decided to join the pack outside to see if something interesting was going on.

As Kori walked outside she heard Jake introduce Bella and Leah.

"Hey. I'm really sorry about your father." Bella said awkwardly.

Kori walked down the steps, waiting to see what Leah was going to say.

"If you're here to torture Jacob some more, feel free to leave." Leah responded as she turned and walked away, towards the trees.

The rest of the pack watched awkwardly while Kori tried not to smile. 'Thank you, Leah!'

"Fun isn't she?" Jake asked sarcastically. Kori glared at him, but he didn't notice.

"Bella!" Emily called happily as she came out of the house, Sam trailing behind her, "I was wondering when we'd see your face around here again." she joked as she pulled Bella into a hug.

"Yeah, same here." Bella answered awkwardly as they pulled away. Sam came up and put an arm around Emily's shoulder.

"Sam, we good?" Jake asked carefully.

"We're good." Sam answered as Emily snuggled closer to him. "She won't be breaking through our defenses anytime soon." Kori rolled her eyes. They were talking about Victoria, that's all they ever talked about.

"Hey Kori." Bella greeted quietly, smiling a little. Kori waved a little, not quite wanting to talk to her. "You look really different."

Kori forced a smile. "Yup. I phased, and you tend to look different afterwards." she joked dryly.

Bella's eyes widened before she looked up at Jacob, standing next to her. "Why didn't you tell me Kori phased?"

Jake shrugged. "Well, she phased a few days after…you left. You weren't around, and after that it never came up."

Bella nodded awkwardly before looking back at Kori. 'Oh joy, guess we're still talking,' Kori thought.

"So, what's it like being in the pack?" Bella asked in a friendly tone.

Kori crossed her arms and shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. But unfortunately it means I have to be inside their heads a lot."

Paul came around and threw one arm around her shoulder. "Aw, come on, Kor! You know you love us." he teased with a smirk. She knew he was trying to get her to lighten up.

Kori rolled her eyes with a smile of her own. "Yeah, if only you guys could control your thoughts once in a while." she joked back.

"At least we're not afraid of showing each other our thoughts. We trust each other, unlike certain people." Embry countered bitterly, throwing a glare in Kori's direction.

Kori's smile dropped as she looked back at him. Every time she was in a good mood and actually having fun with the pack Embry had to step in and ruin it.

She pulled out of Paul's grip and turned her back on the pack.

"I'm out of here." she said in a dull tone as she headed toward the tree line. She picked up her pace the farther she got.

"Coward!" Embry shouted angrily, making Kori break into a run, bursting into a wolf when she passed the trees.

She raced through the trees as fast as she could. She had a place in mind to stop, far away from pack eyes and noses.

When she neared the border with the Cullens she slowed down and phased back, digging a pair of running shorts, a sports bra, and a T-shirt out of a bush. She pulled them on and sat against the tree nearest to the border.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the trunk, calming her heartbeat down.

The rustling of a nearby bush made her sniff the air, keeping her eyes closed. The visitor sat next to her, leaning against the tree trunk with her.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Leah asked, making Kori open her eyes.

"Just thinking, really." she answered quietly.

"So you came here?" Leah asked, not letting any emotion slip into her voice, even though Kori could tell she was surprised.

Kori shrugged. "No one in the pack comes here unless patrolling, and no one's patrolling today."

"Doesn't it burn your nose?" Leah asked, scrunching up her own nose.

"It does," Kori answered simply, nodding her head a little, "but at least I'm getting some peace. Away from all the pack drama, which I coincidentally am the center of."

Leah nodded slowly. A comfortable silence fell over the two she-wolves for a few minutes.

"I hate you."

Kori snapped her head around to stare at Leah in shock, definitely not expecting that, and not knowing what to think of what she just said.

Leah didn't look up, but spoke again. "That's the last thing I said to my dad before…before I killed him." she whispered, her eyes actually glistening.

Kori felt her blood go cold as she watched a single tear fall down Leah's cheek. Leah never showed weakness, and she definitely didn't cry.

"Lee, you didn't kill him." Kori said quietly, "Harry always had a weak heart, you know that. It's not your fault."

Leah scoffed as she wiped the tear off her cheek. "It is, though. If I hadn't been fighting with him, he would still be here. Instead, he's gone. And now I'm stuck being a freak-of-nature, tagalong ex-girlfriend that nobody wants."

Kori glared at her lightly. "That's a load of bull, Leah. We all do stuff that we end up beating ourselves up for later. So you got in a fight with your dad, that doesn't make it your fault he died. If your phasing hadn't caused his heart attack, I'm sure something would've happened eventually to cause it. Just like," Kori swallowed the lump in her throat before forcing herself to continue, "Just like my mother's death."

Leah looked over at her with slightly wide eyes. None of the Blacks ever talked about Sarah's death.

Kori looked away and looked at the ground. "That day I really wanted some ice cream. I begged and begged my mom for some, but we didn't have any. Jake, Quil, and Embry ate all of it the last time they all hung out at our place. I wouldn't take no for an answer, I was only seven years old. So, my mom drove to the store to get some. It started raining while she was out. Then, an officer came to our house and said…that she was gone. Deep down, I still think it's my fault. If she hadn't gone out to get ice cream for me, she'd still be here."

Leah stared at her, watching her face as Kori stared down at the ground. Then, she took a deep breath and looked up at Leah.

"But, that's in the past. I know my mom wouldn't want me to spend my life blaming myself for that, and I know Harry wouldn't want you to do that either. And if you want, we can be unwanted freaks of nature together." Kori added lightly with a small smile.

Leah smiled back, the sight making Kori's smile grow a little. Leah hadn't really smiled since her dad died.

"Thanks." Leah whispered. She glanced at the ground before looking back up at Kori. "I know it's none of my business, but are you ever going to tell the pack what your problem with Liz is?"

Kori looked away, trying to fight the flash of annoyance at that question. She went to the border to get away from everyone.

"I'm not trying to go all Embry on your ass, I'm just asking if we'll ever know the truth." Leah reasoned.

Kori looked over at her. "Not if I can help it." she admitted quietly.

"What are you going to do if Sam goes through with his threat and uses the Alpha Command on you?" Leah asked curiously.

Kori bit her lip and looked away, not sure how her pack sister would take her answer. "I…I'll probably leave the pack."

"What?!" Leah nearly shouted in shock, making Kori flinch and close her eyes. "What do you mean 'leave the pack'? Is that even possible?"

"Well, I'm a direct descendant of Ephraim Black, right? Therefore I'm a rightful alpha just like Jacob. So, if I wanted to, I could theoretically break away from Sam's pack and become my own alpha." she glanced at Leah, who was looking at her with wide eyes. "I just figured, it would make things easier on everyone. I mean, some pack members feel torn because they don't know if they should side with me or Embry. And I don't want that. I don't want the pack divided. I don't want anyone to side with me. So, I just thought, if it comes to that, I'll leave and make things easier for everyone." Kori ranted, trying to defend her reasoning.

Leah was silent for a while. "If you leave, I'm going with you." she stated simply, "I'm not going to be left as the only girl in the pack again."

Kori thought for a moment. It would be nice to have company should that happen, and she did just get finished promising they'd be 'unwanted freaks of nature together'. She couldn't just abandon Leah like that.

Kori sighed. "Okay. If it does come to that, I guess I'll need a beta." she smirked at Leah, who only nodded back.

"Good."

XXX

On a side note, I'm working on a short story revolving around Kori. It's a Mother's Day theme that I thought of last Mother's Day that I've been working on slowly. I'm just wondering how many people would actually read it if I posted it on here after it's done.

Also, what do you think of this chapter! Lots to take in!

Review and let me know please!